Your Smile

I recently wrote a poem for my girlfriend while we were visiting her mother near the Hungarian border. It was inspired by, suprise, her smile and it came together in about ten minutes. She loves sunflowers, hence the picture.

Pete



Your Smile

I watch your face as you both speak.
In the musical stream that I love without understanding.
It babbles into my ears until the moment happens.
Your eyes, shining with your boundless spirit, catch mine and you smile.

It is a simple smile yet it reaches right through me.
The childlike joy and warmth of the evening before Christmas
Is in your smile and your face
And it brings the cosy heat of a Christmas log fire to me.

Knowing that such a smile was prompted by me touches my heart
And fuels the light of love that is kept there.
My mind changes the white of the kitchen light on your face
Into an orange glow as if of the fire we will sit by together in but a few weeks.

Each day that I spend with you brings new happiness
At being in love with and being loved by you.
You are a light in my life and keep a smile on my lips.

Szeretlek Edina

We are like balloons tied to the same stone.

Here's a simple piece that I wrote for a friend. We'd been talking about love and relationships, and what they are best described by. I mentioned the title phrase as my impression of her relationship with her husband and she loved it. She gave this one to him the next time they were out on a date and he really enjoyed it.


We are like two balloons tied to the same stone,
We bounce and play next to one another in the air,
Nuzzling close and winding around one another,
Sometimes we may go our separate ways for a time,
But we always come back to one another,
Happily reunited,
When children become part of our lives their balloons will join us,
Winding around us and growing,
Until such time as their need to grow calls them away,
And they float away to find their own place in the world,
Establish their own stones to be tied to
Share it with their love and continue the cycle anew,
While we grow old together in happy contentment


Best wishes to everyone. I'm now writing from Bratislava, Slovakia as I've taken up a new position teaching English here. It's a lovely city and great to be part of a new culture. Variety is, as they say, the spice of life ;-)

Pete

Please feel free to contact me about custom wedding readings via email at customweddingreadings@gmail.com or leave your contact information in the comments section of any of my posts.

Rachel and Alex - star-gazers who fell in love.

While I was living in the US, I was fortunate enough to make some friends who were very much into the amateur stargazing scene. They really kindled an interest in me in the stars, galaxies and amazing cosmological things that surround our world. I only had the chance to go out with Rachel and Alex a few times to actually stargaze but it was a fantastic experience.

Their wedding featured a number of readings and speeches from different family members and friends, but Alex worked with me to put together the following poem for Rachel.




A Hundred Facets

A hundred facets of fiery brilliance
effortless to your being

Like glittering stardust,
diamonds borne on solar winds
reflecting the light of creation
as they tumble through galaxies innumerable

With but a spark of the light inside you
a prismatic spray of a colour is born
a rolling wave washing over my eyes
bathing me in myriad images
each a reflection, a refraction
a moment of your innermost being

I am taken like driftwood
floating on the sea of your light
until the edge is found

The fall is willing.
Into the brilliant splendour
your heart of fire offers up



The galactic theme speaks for itself here I think, but there is a second focus. Both Rachel and Alex picked the same style of engagement ring featuring a Heart of Fire diamond, which has a hundred facets rather than the usual sixty six cut into other diamonds. Alex and I decided that it couldn't be left out and I think it tied the piece together nicely.


Please feel free to contact me about custom wedding readings via email at customweddingreadings@gmail.com or leave your contact information in the comments section of any of my posts.

An anniversary reading this time.

Hi everyone,

This is a brief departure from the usual custom wedding reading as it's an anniversary reading I put together for a friend's brother, Charles. This was a simple piece that he wanted to help celebrate their five year anniversary. Tradition holds it that the five year is the wood (or wooden) wedding anniversary and I understand that Charles got his wife Beth a carved wooden bowl as his gift. I haven't yet had a chance to see it but my friend, his brother, tells me it is very nice indeed.






Endlessly


Today I feel the joyous smile
And my soul feels light
For another year my heart has been yours
I give you my hands
I give you my words
I give you my kisses
All I that have
All that I am
Yours in deepest, endless love


Thanks for reading

Peter


Please feel free to contact me about custom wedding readings via email at customweddingreadings@gmail.com or leave your contact information in the comments section of any of my posts.

Mike and Elise's wedding

Mike and Elise are friends I met through scuba diving and they were on holiday diving off Sipidan Island, Malaysia when Mike proposed underwater. Elise suspected it was coming on the trip but she told me later that she didn't expect it to happen actually during a dive.


Sipidan Water Village, Sipidan Malaysia




Infinite Eyes


In that charged bond,
Lit with the sparks of unvoiced volumes,
I found an honesty

Conveyed with looks both of fleeting nothing
And of deepest meaning
Was a truth

The strands of fate weave unknowable patterns
Yet for that frozen instant in time
There was peace and love,
Thoughts of what could be,
Blossoming happy futures


In the infinite chances of this universe
I saw your infinite eyes
And my heart rejoiced.



Elise told me that she felt like she'd seen a spark in Mike's eyes when they first started the dive and that somehow it touched her differently. She thought it was the tropical paradise letting her mind go free, but I think it was more that wonderful anticipation when you know that love is about to make the next leap. In any case, Elise gave me a bit of guidance and I put together the reading you see above. It went down a treat.


I hope you enjoyed reading this piece as I really enjoyed writing it. Definitely one of my favourites.

Peter


Please feel free to contact me about custom wedding readings via email at customweddingreadings@gmail.com or leave your contact information in the comments section of any of my posts.

Carla and Steven's wedding in Maryland

Here is a piece I did for two very good friends of mine, Carla and Steven. I spoke to Steve during the build up to their wedding day and he told me that he really wanted to write something for Carla that showed both how he felt and tied into the experiences they'd had since they first met. He had his mother read it out to Carla in front of their family and guests during the ceremony. I recall seeing a few happy tears from the bride as she listened and Steve was very pleased with how it came out.

Just as an advance note. I never claim the credit for these pieces when it comes time for them to be read. As far as I'm concerned, I am just putting words to the feelings that my friends and clients have. I'm here to help make your day really special, not to try and get in the limelight :-)


Note, this isn't the actual wedding as I don't post pictures unless specifically given permission, but this garden is where the ceremony was held.



To my love

It’s a wonderful feeling when you find a best friend then fall in love with them. You laugh, cry, fight, make up, talk about everything, talk about nothing and there is love and friendship.

You go through the good times of fun, laughter, joy, food, drink, and there is love and friendship.

You go through tears, loss, sadness and hard times, and still there is love and friendship.

You talk with your own private language. Sometimes it’s with words, real or the fanciful creations of your collective minds. Those silly endearments that would leave a stranger confused but, like a familiar blanket, wrap your heart in warmth or curve your lips into a grin.

A look, a private smile, the touch of a finger, the comfort of a hug or the soft press of lips. It all comes together in that dizzying whirl of time in company that you never tire of keeping.

I write this for someone who does all this and more.

For someone who wags a finger from under the bundle of morning covers.

For someone who turned out oaky and dry.

Someone I would travel four thousand miles with.

Someone I love…

…just as they are.


Just to clue you in, both of had discovered a shared love of wine tasting and Steve told me about the time, several months into their tasting, that Carla mistakenly announced to him that she (not her taste in wine) was now oaky and dry, which made them both laugh. They also did a big road trip across the States, hence the four thousand miles.

The ending line comes from the film Bridget Jones' Diary, which the couple had watched together and really enjoyed. They decided that line really suited them and how they felt.

I hope you enjoyed reading this piece.

Peter

Please feel free to contact me about custom wedding readings via email at customweddingreadings@gmail.com or leave your contact information in the comments section of any of my posts.

Welcome to Custom Wedding Readings

Hello everyone and welcome to Custom Wedding Readings. I started this blog in order to bring something different to the table when it comes to celebrating the wonderful day when you get married to the person you've fallen in love with.

Having a reading or speech during your wedding ceremony or in the reception afterwards can let you add that personal touch to really express how you feel about your love. There are many wonderful pieces that can be found in religious texts, poetry collections and works of literature. Many people choose these to let their soon-to-be spouses, family and friends see the feelings they have.


So what am I offering that is special and worth your time?

Before I answer, let me ask a question in reply.

Have you ever wished you could express the way you feel about your love but found it hard to pin down the words?


I will write a custom wedding reading that is personal to you and your soon-to-be spouse. Each piece will be completely unique and written about the two of you and what you share. I will work with you to make sure that I'm capturing the essence of what you want to say on your wedding and truly making it a perfect day.

I've been honing my creative writing skills over the last five years and have been honoured to write several pieces for couples to use on their wedding days. I will be posting examples of the custom wedding readings I've already done for couples. I hope you enjoy them and perhaps get some ideas for your own special day.


Yours sincerely,

Peter Wallin




Please feel free to contact me about custom wedding readings via email at customweddingreadings@gmail.com or leave your contact information in the comments section of any of my posts.